Leslie Adams (14 November 1909 – 31 January 1945), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "Juicy", was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, and at club level for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

(two spells, including the second as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

guest A guest is person who is given hospitality. Guest or The Guest may refer to: * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, guest actor, guest ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

, as a .

Background

Les 'Juicy' Adams' birth was registered in

district,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England, and he died aged 35 in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Playing career

International honours

Adams won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Leeds in 1931 against Wales, while at Castleford in 1936 against Wales, in 1939 against France, and won a

for

while at Leeds on Saturday 18 June 1932 against Australia at Brisbane Cricket Ground (the Gabba).

County honours

He won

s playing for

while at Castleford in the 0–10 defeat by Cumberland at

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

's stadium on 29 September 1934, the 5–5 draw with Lancashire at

' stadium on 9 January 35, the 16–5 victory over Lancashire at

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

' stadium on 12 October 1935, the 16–10 victory over Cumberland at

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

's stadium on 10 October 1936, the 6–28 defeat by Lancashire at

's stadium on 21 October 1936, and the 7–7 draw with Cumberland at

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

's stadium on 10 November 1937.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

He played in

' 11–8 victory over Swinton in the 1931–32 Challenge Cup Final during the 1931–32 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

on Saturday 7 May 1932, played in

's 21–17 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in the

1932–33 Challenge Cup The 1932–33 Challenge Cup was the 33rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarter finals Semi-finals Final Huddersfield beat Warrington 21-17 in the final at Wembley befor ...

Final during the 1932–33 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 6 May 1933, and played , and scored a try in

's 11–8 victory over

in the

1934–35 Challenge Cup The 1934–35 Challenge Cup was the 35th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Castleford beat Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfield 11–8 in the fi ...

Final during the 1934–35 season at

on Saturday 4 May 1935, in front of a crowd of 39,000, In doing so, he became the first player to win the Challenge Cup with three different clubs.

County League appearances

Adams played in Castleford's victories in the Yorkshire League during the 1932–33 season and 1938–39 season.

Club career

He made his début for

against

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on 26 March 1927.Dalby, Ken (1955). ''The Headingley Story - 1890-1955 - Volume One - Rugby''. The Leeds Cricket, Football & Athletic Co. Ltd ASIN: B0018JNGVM His transfer from Huddersfield to Castleford on 18 January 1934, for a reported fee of £500, came at his own request.

Genealogical information

Leslie Adams' marriage to Gladys (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Collinson) was registered in June 1934 in

North district. They had children; June M. Adams, born in March 1937 and registered in

North district. Adams was the uncle of the

footballer who played in the 1960s for

and Bramley, Philip Adams (born ).

Death

Adams became a landlord in Leeds, and subsequently volunteered for war duty with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, becoming a rear gunner with the rank of

flight sergeant Flight sergeant (commonly abbreviated to Flt Sgt, F/Sgt, FSGT or, currently correctly in the RAF, FS) is a senior non-commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and several other air forces which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structur ...

. He was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

on 31 January 1945 while serving as an

air gunner An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedic ...

on an

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...

operation during the

Burma campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

. The Liberator B Mk V in which he was flying suffered fatal engine trouble caused by bullets from a Japanese night fighter at 3:10 am south-west of

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. Of the nine men on the plane, three of the occupants, including Adams, are believed to have trapped in the back of the plane, causing them to be killed in the crash. The remaining six men were captured, the 2 officers were separated from the

Flight Sergeant Flight sergeant (commonly abbreviated to Flt Sgt, F/Sgt, FSGT or, currently correctly in the RAF, FS) is a senior non-commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and several other air forces which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structur ...

s and sent to Rangoon Jail, where they survived. The Flight Sergeants, including Stan Woodbridge, later awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

, were beheaded by the Japanese Military on 7 February 1945, and are buried in the

Taukkyan War Cemetery The Taukkyan War Cemetery () is a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the Second World War. The cemetery is in the village of Taukkyan, about north of Yangon on Pyay Road. It is maintaine ...

. After the war the Japanese military officers responsible for the execution were tried for war crimes, and were subsequently executed. Despite numerous searches of the area around the crash site, and discussions with villagers who found the plane, no trace of the body of Adams, or his colleagues, was found.

Honoured at Castleford Tigers

Adams is a

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

Hall of Fame Inductee.

References

External links

Les 'Juicy' Adams – RAF rear gunnerFinal replay evokes emotional feelingsLeslie Adams Memory Box Search at archive.castigersheritage.comLes Adams Memory Box Search at archive.castigersheritage.comJuicy Adams Memory Box Search at archive.castigersheritage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Leslie 1909 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Leeds Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Castleford Tigers players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Leeds Rhinos players Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Leeds Yorkshire rugby league team players 20th-century English sportsmen